The three project partners Green Hydrogen Development & Investment (Austria), Adele Hydrogen (France), and RCT GH (Germany) aim to establish an electrolysis plant in Tyrol for the production of green hydrogen. For this purpose, the consortium has submitted a funding application within the framework of the EU Hydrogen Bank auction.
500 Tons of Green Hydrogen Planned Annually
According to the consortium, they expect to produce around 500 tons of green hydrogen per year. This could reduce CO2 emissions by more than 4,000 tons annually. The hydrogen is to be delivered directly to the local industry in Tyrol. Prices are expected to be competitive with conventional hydrogen, which must be delivered over long distances by trailer. There are already inquiries for a second plant, the consortium reports.
Novel Electrodes Increase Performance by 250 Percent
The core of the project is an alkaline electrolysis with novel electrodes from the French partner Adele Hydrogen. Olivier Bucheli of Adele Hydrogen explains: "The electrode materials developed and manufactured in France not only increase the performance of the electrolysis by 250 percent but also enhance process flexibility. This significantly improves integration into the power grid." This allows the alkaline electrolysers to operate at 5 MW instead of the original 2 MW and produce 1,000 cubic meters of hydrogen per hour.
Adele Hydrogen SAS, image created by LEPMI, Grenoble, France
Flexible Operation to Stabilize Power Grids
The plant is also intended to provide balancing power for grid operators. Christian Weinberger, spokesman for the consortium, explains the concept: "When there is too much (renewable) electricity in the grid, we produce a lot of hydrogen. When there is too little, the electrolyser runs in idle mode, so to speak. And this is adjusted every fifteen minutes." This flexibility is intended to simultaneously optimize the production costs for hydrogen.
Value Chain Combines European and International Components
Eric Rüland of RCT GH describes the cost strategy: "The optimal distribution of the value chain of cost-effective standard components, including those from Chinese production, combined with manufacturing in Germany and core components from Europe, enables proven, robust, and durable technology at very low production costs."
RCT GH, based in Konstanz, is a joint venture with RCT Holding as the majority shareholder and the Chinese equipment supplier Guofuhee as the minority shareholder.
Adele Hydrogen is a start-up from Lyon that develops and manufactures high-performance electrodes free of precious metals for alkaline electrolysis.
The Tyrolean Minister of Economic Affairs, Mario Gerber, supports the project. He emphasizes in a letter that the initiative makes "an important contribution to the decarbonization of the industrial location Tyrol."
